Building construction



Oct. 20, 1942. H. L. ROGERS ETAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb, 12, 1940 6% 0 1'6 (g 5r I4 2 2 I6 5 ;9 3maentolns Patented Oct '20, 1942 UNITED STATE BUILDING CONSTRUCTIOH Homer L. Rogers and Gayle B. Price, Dayton. Ohio, assignors, by mcsne assignments, to said Price Application February 12, 1940, Serial No. 318,462

Claims.

This invention relates to building wall structures formed from precast concrete slabs or beams. I

One object of the invention resides in the process of making a substantially flat wall structure from a series of precast concrete slabs, in which.

portions of the slabs between their ends are pulled into a.flush relationship with one another and the slabs are then bonded together so that the flush relationship will be permanent.

Another object resides in the process of making a wall structure from a series of precast concrete I slabs, in which those portions of the slabs that sag or bend beyond other beams between their "ends are pulled in one direction to reduce the bend while exerting an opposing equal force on the adjacent portions of those other slabs that project beyond the bending or sagging slabs, to

bring all the slabs to a flush relationship throughout the length of the series.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a wall structure including a series of precast concrete slabs brought to a common flush relationshipin accordance with the process above mentioned.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following'description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the construction ofa horizontal floor or root of a building from a series of precast concrete slabs or beams of generally'rectangular cross sectional form:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a building floor made in accordance with th present invention; I

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through one of the slabs fromwhich the floor is constructed;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the building floor I shownin Fig. 1;

Fig. .4 is a perspective view of a portion of the floor showing how the slabs are brought even with one another, and showing the lower side of the structure providing a finished ceiling;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a portion of the series of slabs shown in Fig.4, and

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 5. Referring more particularly to the drawing, like parts being designated by thesame reference numerals in the several views, III; II and- I2 designate precast concrete reinforced slabs or beams such, for example, I as maybe made in accordance with our copending applications for Letters PatentSerial Nos. 318,451 and 318,460filed February 12, 1940, for Process for casting slabs and for Cast slabs, respectively. Such slabs, as will be apparent from Figs. 1 and 2, comprise a concrete jbody l3 of generally rectangular form and preferably having a width which is twice the height of the slab. Longitudinally extending reinforcing rods ll, l5 and I6 are provided in the lower portion of the slab, and additional rod l1 and I8 are shown in the upper portion, while the 1 body portion is provided with openings I9 of comparatively large diameter compared to the slab thickness. The rods H, I5 and 16 are preferably under considerable initial tension and act to give the slab a slight curvature or bow in an upward direction when the slab is supported from below and acts as a beam in resisting bending forces so that when the slab is supported at its opposite curved corners 2|.

ends it will be straight. The lower side 20 of the slab is quite smooth, and is provided with smooth The upper surface 22 is of slightly less width than .the lower surface thus providing spaces 23 between adjacent slabs when a series of similar slabs are arranged side by side with their lower portions abutting against one another throughout their length. The side portions 29 are provided with grooves 24 extending longitudinally of the slab and forming spaces which receive grout, applied when the slabs are properly in place sothat adjacent slabs maybe interlocked to one another.

The precast concrete slabs are assembled to bridge the space between a plurality of supports or walls 25 and 26, and rest at their end portions on leveling surfaces or strips 21 and 28 which bring the supported portions of the slabs, where they rest on these leveling strips, to the same level. Since the rigidity of the various-slabs in the series constituting the fiat or inclined roof or the floor of a building may not be exactly the same, some of the slabs may sag or bend somewhat below other slabs that may be more rigid, and before pouring grout in the spaces provided between the upper portions of adjacent slabs to provide the cast bonds 30, the slabs are brought to a flush relationship to one another throughout their lengths by pulling upwardly on those slabs whose middle portions are somewhat below the level of adjacent slabs and at the same tim pulling downwardly on'the slabs that are higher.

In order to readily accomplish the purpose just mentioned, nuts 3| threaded on. bolts 32 are placed in each of the spaces 2;, being moved longitudinally along these spaces from one end of the wall, the nuts 32 being of such size as to be held against turning in the grooves 24 but being readily movable along these grooves. The bolts. when applied to the grooves 24, carry plates 34 which slide over the upper surfaces of the slabs. Several bolts are arranged at suitably spaced intervals along the length of the slabs, with a corresponding spacing of the several bolts in each of ,the spaces between the slabs. A frame comprising angleirons 35 and 36, connected at their ends by connecting plate 31, see Fig. 5, is then moved down against the top of the slabs so as to extend transversely. of the slab length, the plates 34 being small enough in width when turned to extend transversely of the slab length so that they will be received between the angle iron webs as the frame is placed in position. A number of these frames are employed, the number depending upon the length of the span between the walls 25 and 26. When the frames are in position, the plates 34 are raised and turned 90 so as to rest on the lower webs of the angle irons, and the bolts 32 are turned with a wrench so as to draw the nut 3i up tight against the groove 24 of any slab having an unsupported portion which sags below the level of an adjacent slab or slabs. As the nuts are tightened up they pull upwardly on the weaker or sagging slabs and at the same time stress the higher or more rigid beams to such extent as to bend all the slabs into flush relationship with one another throughout the slab length. The upper surfaces of all of the slabs are thus brought even with one another.

After the slabs have all been brought to a flush relationship with one another, the space between the adjacent slabs is filled with grout.

threaded holes which are left in the concrete when the bolts 32 are removed may befilled with grout although they may remain if a wood flooring is to be applied to the upper surface of the slabs. The left-hand portion of Fig. 1 shows a wood flooring 38 laid on wood strips 39 secured by bolts 40 threaded to the passages left in the concrete when the bolts 32 are removed.

While the process and article herein described constitute preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise process and article, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention whichis defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: r

l. The process of making an even surfaced wall structure comprising assembling 'a series of concrete beams in laterally abutting relation with the beams supported at their opposite end portions and with the upper portions of adjacent beams in laterally spaced relation, the beams having differing natural bendingdeflections between their ends and having longitudinal grooves in their spaced upper portions, applying nuts longitudinally into said grooves from the ends of thebeams by means of bolts connected to the nuts extending longitudinally between adjacent beams,

- series 'of beams, screwing the bolts into the nuts while holding the bolt heads with respect to the upper surface of a beam to force such beam downwardly and simultaneously pull the adjoining:

beam upwardly into a common flush relation ship with one another between the end portions of the beams, casting bonds in the spaces between adjoining beams, and removing the bolts from the nuts after the bonds have hardened.

I 2. Th e process of making a substantially flat wall structure comprising assembling a series of concrete beams in side by side relation, the assembled beams having differing bending deflections and having recesses at the'sides thereof between adjacent beams, placing a relatively rigid member against the face of the beams and overlapping adjacent beams in the plane of the wall, engaging said beams inwardly of said face and applying force to the engaged portions of the beams against said member to pull all of the beams into contact with said member and into flush relation with each other. placing cementitious bonding material in the recesses between adjacent beams while said force is applied thereto, and removing said member after said bonding material has set to retain said assembled beams wardly of said faceand applying force to those beams which are deflected away from said member to pull the same toward said member, said member resting against others of said beams and transmitting the force thereto in the opposite direction to thereby bring all of said beams into flush relation with each other, placing cementi-,

- tious bonding material in the recesses between adjacent beams while said forces are applied thereto, and thereafter removing said member after the bonding material has set to retain said beams in said flush relationship. w

4. The process of making a substantially flat wall structure comprising assembling a series of concrete beams in side by side relation, the assembled beams having differing bending deflecwith each other agalnst'said rigid member, placing a cementitiousbonding material in said recesses while said beams are held against said rigid memberlby said force application, and removing said rigid member after said bondingmaterial has set to retain said beams in assembled flush relation with each other.

5. The process of making a substantially flat wall structure comprising assembling a series of concretebeams in side by side relation, the assembledbeams having differing bending deflections and having recesses at the sides thereof placing a relatively rigid member against the face of said beams and extending in overlapping relation with adjacent beams, engaging said beams inwardly of said face by members extending inwardly into said recesses between adjacent beams,

applying force to said inwardly extending members against said rigid member to pull'all of the beams into flush relation with each other, placing a cementitious grouting bonding material in the 

